Hotter temps, more medical calls at Electric Daisy Carnival

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The weekend's triple-digit heat is being blamed for a large spike in medical calls at the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival.

Police said there were more than 1,400 medical calls at the event, which took place Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, continuing into each morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That's about an 80 percent increase from last year, when there were fewer than 800 calls.

The number of people taken to the hospital this year increased by two to 27, and one death was reported.

The event featured DJs performing on elaborate stages amid a carnival-like setting of rides and pyrotechnic displays. About 404,000 people attended, which was an increase of about 2,000 people from 2014.

Temperatures this year were about 10 degrees hotter than at last year's festival, the National Weather Service said. Las Vegas' hottest day of 2015 came Saturday with a high of 113. Overnight lows were in the mid- to upper 80s each night.

"If you pack that many people into an area in a place like Las Vegas, where it doesn't really cool off that much at night, you will get an increase in those type of related calls, especially because the overnight lows are not dropping that much," said weather service meteorologist Justin Pullin.

Last year's festival had a high of 105 degrees and overnight lows in the 70s and 80s.

Insomanic Productions could not be reached for comment Monday, but police said the festival organizer provided free water bottles.

As of Monday afternoon, the Clark County coroner's office was still trying to positively identify the 24-year-old man who died overnight Saturday into Sunday.

No fatalities were reported at the event last year, but three people who came to Las Vegas for the festival died.